Dash cameras

[contender]

I have been considering getting a dash camera to put in my truck. There are a lot of different ones out there, and when I read reviews,,, I see the exact same wording about different models within one brand, by the same "reviewers!"
My needs are for primarily for traffic. I have been sideswipped, (this driver left the scene, even after almost hitting the van behind me,) backed into by a girl texting at a red light, when it changed, she put her car in reverse & backed up into me, had a driver decide to enter the left turn lane, AFTER he was parked in a line of traffic awaiting the green, & I was moving forward in the left turn lane under green. I was fortunate that a small part of my bumper just peeled the side of his truck & he admitted his mistake.
Add in the numerous times I see people run red lights, pull across in front of me or others, & so many other stupid driving maneuvers, I've decided I want video proof of the IDIOTS I encounter.

So, do any of y'all have one?
If so, what kind & how do you like it?
Pro's & con's?

I'm kinda looking at the Cobras & Garmins. But, I see some do night as well as daytime. Amazon has a lot of different ones & I'm just not sure what will fit my needs. Any & all advice is appreciated!

I bought a GoPro last year, and it is not good for use as a dash camera. It works fine, but I can not plug it in my cig lighter & keep it powered. I can set it to continuous loop, but once the battery is down, I have to wait to recharge it. I tried to get a hook-up to use it in my truck, but it doesn't work.

 

[eveled]

I have tried to get my company to put them in our vans with no luck. I think they are a great idea. I have had most of the things happen that you described plus I have had a car load of people cut me off then stop trying to get me to rear end them. I am pretty sure it was an insurance scam in the works.

Unfortunately I don't have any advice on brands and models, but I think it is well worth pursuing. Good luck, Ed.

 

[Pistolero]

With the high number of morons on our highways today I would say dash cams are a very good idea!

 

[Dan in MI]

backed into by a girl texting at a red light, when it changed, she put her car in reverse & backed up into me,

My wife had a guy do that years ago (long before cell phones) The cop told her if the guy hadn't admitted backing into her she would have gotten the ticket for running in to him. So yeah I can see a desire for a camera.

 

[gramps]

Go to KimKommando.com, and check out her store.
gramps

 

[coach]

My daughter just hit someone. Luckily the woman admitted she hit her brakes when the car ahead did. Of course he kept driving.
No experience with them, but it can't hurt.

 

[noquarter]

I have a GT550WS. Can't remember if I got it from Amazon or eBay. Cost was ~$110. It's a great little camera. Does 1080, 720 at either 30 or 60 fps, and 640x480. Has day and night capability and gives great images. It can record sound too if you want. At 1080 you can store ~5 hours on a 32 GB card (@$20). Double that if you go to 720p @ 30 fps. You can get an adapter for GPS ($40 on ebay) that will stamp lat / long on the video as well as speed. All can be turned on or off from the menu. You can easily download clips to your pc in mp4 format over USB. There are several videos on YouTube that show the unit and videos taken by it. Highly recommended.

 

[Pat-inCO]

I got a VACRON CDR-E22 from Amazon, NOT cheap at $300, but it has some
good features. It uses GPS for location, time and date. It re-uses the SD card
so you do not need to change cards out, unless you have some sort of
collision. It DOES take a class 10 SD card, but if you get one big one, that
will handle most everything.

It has one feature I really like, if there is an impact, it marks the
data you have stored, from two minutes (IIRC) before the impact to I forget
how many minutes after the impact, as non reusable, so your data is
preserved (you can delete it later if you want).

It also saves audio, or not, if you prefer, so that everything relevant is
contained in the saved data.

I've had mine for over a year and am still very impressed with it. :D

Just happened to think, it does VERY well in low light conditions. :shock: :D

 

[Dan in MI]

Do these work on a rolling FIFO system of X duration?

 

[DA_TriggR4Ruger]

Wow. That's pretty nice...
http://www.vacron.com/products_spec.aspx?prodid=56

I'm trying to find out what type of system it uses...
Had to do some research on first in first out:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFO

 

[contender]

Keep it coming folks,, I'm learning,,,!

 

[redhawker]

If you go by the videos on YouTube I'd say contact a driver in Russia and they could recommend one. It looks like 90% of the dash cam videos are from Russia. Are they required by law over there? On a kinda side note, they're all drive like nuts over there!

 

[Rick Courtright]

If you go by the videos on YouTube I'd say contact a driver in Russia and they could recommend one. It looks like 90% of the dash cam videos are from Russia. Are they required by law over there? On a kinda side note, they're all drive like nuts over there!

Hi,

Ya beat me to it, RH! Some of those videos look like they're using cameras that produce pictures better than those we see from many of our LEOs, too... though LE cameras certainly have the edge on bells and whistles being hooked up to their radar and such.

I'm with Contender: this is a good "learning thread" for me.

Rick C

 

[DA_TriggR4Ruger]

Speaking of being hooked up to radar...

Their now exist tools you can use to make your radar detector communicate with your GPS. When this is done correctly, it makes radar show up as red dots on your GPS. With an average diameter of the radar pulsing around each dot /squad car.

 

[noquarter]

Insurance fraud is a cottage industry in Russia.

From WIKI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurance_fraud

This category involves staging a collision where the fraudsters will use a vehicle to stage an accident with the innocent party. Typically, there would be 4 or 5 fraudsters in the vehicle which makes an unexpected manoeuvre causing the innocent party to collide with the fraudsters vehicle. Each of the fraudsters then claim for injuries sustained in the vehicle. Working with a “recruited” doctor, the injuries are typically whiplash or other soft tissue injuries which are hard to dispute later.

Other examples include jumping in front of cars as done in Russia. The driving conditions and roads are dangerous with many people trying to scam drivers by jumping in front of expensive-looking cars or crashing into them. Hit and runs are very common and insurance companies notoriously specialize in denying claims. Two-way insurance coverage is very expensive and almost completely unavailable for vehicles over ten years old–the drivers can only obtain basic liability. Because Russian courts do not like using verbal claims, most people have dashboard cameras installed to warn would-be perpetrators or provide evidence for/against claims.

 

[Pat-inCO]

Do these work on a rolling FIFO system of X duration?

I believe so, yes.
IIRC it is somewhere between 5M and 8M per. That's why the class 10 SD.

 

[737tdi]

Wow. That's pretty nice...
http://www.vacron.com/products_spec.aspx?prodid=56

I'm trying to find out what type of system it uses...
Had to do some research on first in first out:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFO

What seems very cool about this one is it has an adjustable "G" sensor. I drive on very rough roads and I would have had a problem with this bugger freezing up, I think. Very cool. Seems to have great video and some really cool features.

Ty, I think this might be what you are looking for.???

Karl

 

[mohavesam]

Go to KimKommando.com, and check out her store.
gramps

+1.
One of my first stops when looking for endorsed downloads & hardware. She also has a 2-cam unit branded and it's a good start.